Medics get 12 British servicemen out safely in biggest Helmand air evacuation

A dozen wounded British servicemen have been airlifted out of Helmand province in the largest and most complex medical evacuation since the conflict in Afghanistan began.

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent

7:00AM GMT 16 Feb 2009

In a sign of the increasing intensity of the campaign against the Taliban, more than 20 troops a week are being evacuated by air from Camp Bastion.

A team of 10 doctors and nurses was flown out on a special mission to pick up the wounded troops after the field hospital was reaching full capacity for patients needing intensive care.

The special RAF C17 Globemaster flight was ordered because one soldier was a Priority One case, needing urgent specialist surgery within 24 hours after he was shot through the neck.

With a recently purchased special stretcher pallet for the C17, the medics were able to load 12 servicemen onto the flight.

Pictures show personnel from the Critical Care Air Support Team working throughout the 14-hour flight to keep the men alive. To date, no British serviceman has died on the flights that saw 4,200 patients evacuated worldwide last year.

The doctors and nurses were most concerned for the soldier with the serious tracheal injury that required a vascular surgeon to operate on his wind pipe. The medics had a "very, very short timeline" to get him into surgery.

Constant monitoring was also needed for a soldier involved in the same battle with the Taliban who had been shot in the chest, leaving a wound that filled with blood and air. He also suffered liver and gall bladder damage. Constant contact between the pilot and doctors was necessary in order to ensure the cabin pressure remained stable at "sea level cabin altitude", at around 26,000 ft.

The third seriously wounded serviceman suffered two broken legs and chest injuries after he was hit by a roadside bomb.

"It's challenging for them in an environment which is not like a hospital ward," said Squadron Leader Ian Mollan, the commander of Britain's Aeromedical Evacuation Control Centre. "The aircraft is moving a lot with vibrations and turbulence. But the team did a fantastic job on this flight. They were given a very difficult task working in difficult conditions over a very long day."

As troops from 3 Commando Brigade continue their offensive to push the Taliban out of key populated areas in Helmand, the casualty count has begun to mount.

The number of aeromedical evacuations has more than tripled since the first British forces entered Helmand in 2006 with 800 troops flown home in the past year.

"The rate of air medical evacuations has gone up in Afghanistan but it's not surprising if you put people in harm's way people will get hurt and it's our job to get them home very, very quickly," said Squadron Ldr Mollan.

"Yes our workload is increasing and in fact we have never been busier in the last four years in Afghanistan."

The C17 returned directly to Britain where the casualties were transferred to Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham.

Squadron Leader Andrew Robertson, of 99 Squadron RAF who piloted the aircraft, said: "It was a challenge to load the aircraft in the allotted time scale as there were all sorts of issues to deal with. It is not easy to load the injured quickly but the care and comfort of the patient is paramount."